Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Finally back to blogging! I missed it so much!Anyways, Coffret D'or released new eyeshadow palettes for Summer 2009 and I picked up one of them to see how I'd like the new range! =D

The new Color Mixing Eyes palette contains 4 colors, 2 of them being the nuance colors, 1 highlighter and the liner shade (all powders, no creams!).

I believe the 2 nuance colors on top might be baked, they feel/look so and they have this gorgeous soft metallic finish I am used to from baked shadows. However I cannot confirm this, maybe they're just pressed! They're sheerer and a bit rougher than I am used to from Coffret D'or but they have a beautiful finish with a little sparkle (not glitter!) I really love!The highlighter shade has a super fine shimmer, which gives a soft shine to your skin (a nice contrast to the metallics). The liner shade is very pigmented and nearly matte (some scattered shimmers sprayed on top but the color itself doesn't really shimmer.

I find the staying power of these shadows good, I experienced no creasing/fading throughout the day.

The case this comes in is the same as the other ones (smooth silver with pink rhinestones), I wish they'd come up with another design at some point (just like with T'estimo, where they used to change the look of the palettes with every new release).

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Ahaha, sorry to disappoint those who thought I am strictly back to beauty blogging lol! I got so much cute Etsy stuff I just have to share the pics with you (and I know many of my readers enjoy Etsy haul posts, too!) =D

As always I will sort by sellers:

-Chetanddot:You know that I love this store so the last thing I picked up was a business card wallet! I got 2 kinds of business cards last week (one batch of super cute ones and some more serious ones lol). Quite a good amount of cards can fit in each side and the little Japanese bear fabric applique is so sweet!

-Toteworks:I fell in love with this sweet little Matryoshka purse so it had to be mine right away =P It's really well made (very professional!). It's a little smaller than I usually like (as I tote tons of stuff around lol) but it still can hold all essentials and some extras! It's really sweet! The nesting dolls fabric is from Japan.The seller is very sweet, she even sent me an extra little gift!

-Siamsquare:Yet another purchase in one of my fave Etsy stores. Her skills are just incredible, everything she makes is impeccable! I ordered a few more things that are on the way to me (I hope to get them by mid of the week).This is a gadget holder/pouch/wristlet. The taupe linen is from Japan (99% of the pouches etc. I buy on Etsy are made from Japanese fabrics as there just have the sweetest designs!) I attached it to my purse to keep my eco bag handy inside but it also makes a really practical cam bag!

-Simbiosisbyjulia:Yep, purchased again from that store (and still have a few packages from her coming)! She had that pouch sale going on for 2 weeks and I shamelessly indulged in tons of pouches.This purchase however only included 1 pouch for myself (the one with the little chicks). The robots pouch is for my son, the one with the owls for my daughter (she loves owls!) and the pink one with the bear heads is the wrapping for 2 hand-crocheted rattles I purchased for my cousin (who already passed her due-date and we all hope the baby will be here within the next days!).All fabrics (except the one with the owls) are Japanese =).I received another clutch/pouch set I posted about here.

-Cheekyboo:I purchased this cute animals tote from her a month or so ago and find it so useful and well made that I purchased the other tote she had up for grabs! You can fold these really small so it's easy to carry them with you. The Little Red Riding Hood tote is lined with a cute striped fabric.She has some cute pillows in her store (and other bits) so I recommend having a look there!Japanese fabric again =D

And now on to the stationery I got:

-3point5dollars:This Japan-based Etsy seller offers all sorts of cute letter sets, wrapping bags, deco tapes etc.I purchased 2 Palette's Sweet Street DIN-A4 folders to hold the scripts I was writing over the past 2 weeks. Such cute folders just make me smile before I read that super boring law stuff lolI also got deco tapes and wrapping bags (those who ordered from me within the past few days and from now on will recognize them when they open their packages hehe). The pencils have been shared with my kids =P

-Japankawaiiya:I was a little pissed with this seller as he/she sent my package via SAL shipping (the cheapest shipping option in Japan and FAR faster than surface mail) instead of airmail so it took over 2 weeks to get here (I was already worried that it got lost because airmail from Japan doesn't take that long) but after all the items are so sweet and I am happy I got them!

I received yet another Palette's Sweet Street letter set and found this other sweet San-X letter set "Happy Colors Pleasant Patterns" which is (style-wise) similar to Palette's Sweet Street (though the black cat looks a little different and is only printed on one of the letter designs and overall they're a bit more plain (but as cute as) Sweet Street.Each of the letter sets contains a whopping 40 sheets and 20 envelopes in 4 designs! I paid US$7.25/each plus shipping.I also got a Rilakkuma pen =)

-Myhappystore:I actually thought that this package got lost as I ordered it nearly a month ago. But it showed up finally =DI got some cute sticky notes and a card case (though it's not really that nice, I don't know why I ordered it lol).

-Shantonghouse (eBay!):I got 2 sets of plasters for the kids and a cute Sugarminuet ballpoint pen (5 colors) and a memo pad.

Eye Fantasist:You get 2 of Beaute de Kose's super popular Eye Fantasists, I believe both are Limited Edition just for summer. They apply smoothly, blend well and don't get blotchy even when you apply 2 or 3 layers. Like most BdK's products these are scented (a soft fruity scent). Once these are dry they stay on without fading and creasing on me.

BL953 Crystal Marine is a super pale aquamarine color with fine glitter bits. It's very sheer so it just leaves a wash of color.SP062 Double Shine is a very special and unique color. It's a metallic duochrome with added fine sparkles;it flashes olive green or plum, depending on the angle the light hits.The good thing is that this is really pigmented, so 2 layers give me an opaque finish so the duochrome effect comes out so well! It's similar to Shiseido's Hydropowder in Spring Plum but I think the BdK has more green and less reddish plum so it works much much better for me.

Since the Crystal Marine shade is so sheer it works nicely with the Double Shine color. If the Crystal Marine would be more pigmented I think the colors would clash quite a bit!

I thought this time I'll show you how the Eye Fantasist shades look like on skin that's much more tan than mine =PMy 7 year old daughter volunteered so you can see the colors on her hand. You see that the crystal marine looks much more silver on her hand whereas on my skin you can spot the light aquamarine tones better. Double Shine shows up much more green on her while the plum tones are more visible on my skin. =DI don't know what's her skin color in MAC, but I'd guess at least NC30? (she's half Egyptian after all lol)

Rouge Fantasist Aqua Vinyl:As always the texture is excellent, it's a smooth non-sticky and very glossy lip color with a beautiful sheer finish.

BE388 Misty Coral is a beautiful neutral peachy beige shade with fine shimmer bits. As you can see it shows up well on my skin but rather blends into my daughter's more tan color.

It offers a bit sun protection but due to the shimmers I find it a bit more suitable for evening wear and/or as a highlighter during the day. I'd not use one my whole face as I'd be afraid that I'd look like a disco-ball in bright sunlight.

Glitter Gel SPF22 PA+:This is a very pretty shimmer gel (the name is misleading, I cannot spot glitter, just fine shimmer). It's a pale pinkish color but it's very sheer so anyone could wear it as a highlighter, I imagine this would be especially pretty on your shoulders, arms and legs.

All in all the Fantasist Collection S Makeup Coffret is a great summer collection and you get 5 wearable and well-coordinated items to play with. At the price of 5250 Yen (Japanese retail) you get a great deal as the Eye Fantasists alone retail for that price so you basically get the lipgloss, powder and highlighter gel for free.

Friday, June 19, 2009

I haven't been buying much makeup lately, mainly because there were no interesting new releases. I think this year's summer collections have quite some failures like Maquillage (cream palettes! )=) and Lunasol (don't like the eyeshadow colors they released!)

A few items caught my interest though so I ordered:-Beaute de KoseMakeup Coffret (you know, I had no idea that they were releasing a summer coffret! I think that's a cool idea! Normally you get such collections only for Xmas!)-Jill StuartIlluminance Eyes in 07 Layered Gem. I am honestly not sure yet if I really like this!-Coffret D'orColor Mixing Eyes in 05-Integrate Impact Double Liner in #10 (Black x Silver)-Maquillage Glossy Nail Color in GR654

Some time ago I decided it was time to get a nice new smaller digicam.The one I actually use is about 7-8 years old (2.1 MP! WOOT!) and still takes excellent pics (Olympus Camedia C-2100) but it's really huge and bulky thus not suitable for toting around.

I used to take pics with my iPhone cam when I was on the go but the pics just aren't good (well, those in bright sunlight are ok, but indoors you can forget it!) so I checked the stores here for a small but not too expensive cam (and I wanted an Olympus as I have good experience with this brand!)

So I came home with this one (I told the guy in the shop I want a cute small pink cam that's not too pricey hehe):

Olympus FE-5010 with 12 Megapixel (I use the 5 MP setting, that's easily large enough!). It has a 5x Optical Zoom which isn't bad (my old cam has 10X though!).The pics it takes are good quality and what's also very important to me is that taking pics is fast. One thing about my old digicam which bugs me is the long time it takes to actually take the pic after pushing the button!

I also got the memory card and an extra battery.

I received this cute pouch set from simbiosisbyjulia (on Etsy) a few days ago and it fits very well for the cam!I use the larger pouch for the cam and USB cable and tuck the small one in to hold the extra battery and a memory card adapter (to use Micro SD cards with the cam!). The small pouch, cam and cable fit in perfectly!

I love the fabric! It's so sweet! Oh, new Etsy haul post up soon AND I am getting a package from Ichibankao (it's out for delivery) including the limited Beaute de Kose coffret and some other goodies so actual makeup reviews coming SOON!

Here's a closeup pic taken with the new cam, I think it's quite good!

I paid €169 for the camera, €27 for the extra battery and about €13 for the memory card. That surely includes our 20% sales tax *sigh*